Contractor Headlines - Broad Range Of Articles About All Aspects of The Construction Industry

Construction nears completion on mountaintop wind turbine near Vancouver

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:41:02 -0800

The first wind turbine in North America built in an extreme high altitude location is nearing completion on the top of a North Vancouver mountain.

Construction Unemployment Surges to 18.7%

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:39:51 -0800

CEO of contractors association calls situation "dire" and "devastating" for construction workers.

Construction Starts Down 3% in October After Seasonal Adjustment

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:36:16 -0800

October construction starts increased 6% from September, but the monthly change was a 3% drop after adjusting for the usual seasonal pickup

Use Near-Misses to Learn about Construction Safety

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:34:28 -0800

lass="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; display: block;">

: Image by Elliot Moore via Flickr

ven't written about construction safety in awhile. I used to write about it every Thursday. I just read an ENR editorial Analyzing Near-Misses Is Key to An Effective Safety Plan. It reminded me of how far we need to go in construction. Our industry kills about 1300 people in the US every year. Thousands of others are seriously injured. Yet, there are far more dangerous industries where people are not getting hurt at anywheres near the construction rates. Alcoa has made amazing strides to create an injuring-free workplace in their smelters. Dupont's chemical operations as dangerous as those processes are don't result in anything near the injuries of construction. These companies and many others across industries all have one thing in common that is fundamentally missing in construction. They systematically learn from each anomaly, variance, problem and near-miss. It's an approach that separates Toyota from all the other auto manufacturers. It's an approach that we can adopt today for safety.

="pullquote">They systematically learn from each anomaly, variance, problem and near-miss.Near-misses happen all the time. I could be working on a ladder and drop a screwdriver. That's a near-miss. No one needs to be under the ladder, they don't even need to be in the work area. That I dropped the screwdriver is unintended and potentially injurious. In the usual situation I might say, "Oops!" getting down off the ladder, retrieving my screwdriver, and going back to work. However, someone could have been injured, or worse. It's exactly this kind of situation that we need to investigate. If we can learn why that incident happened, then we have a chance to prevent it from ever happening again. How do we do that? We call attention to our mistake and get to the root cause.

(...)
Read the rest of Use Near-Misses to Learn about Construction Safety (160 words)

©2009 Hal for Reforming Project Management, . | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Engineering News-Record, Root cause, Toyota

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

California Housing Starts Continue Decline in October

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:31:35 -0800

October's decline has prompted California homebuilders to call on state lawmakers to reexamine the benefits of the state new-home buyer tax credit.

Lean & 5 S's #48

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:30:20 -0800

Lean in HealthCare

Helen Zak of the Lean Institute writes about the national healthcare debate and Lean:

“No doubt you've heard and read a lot about the debate in Washington D.C. over healthcare reform.

Lean & 5S's in Construction #49

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:29:48 -0800

5S’s Tips from Brad Schmidt, President of Gemba Japan

“5S Training - Insist on giving people training about kaizen and the 7 types of waste before doing 5S with them. If 5S doesn't make sense to them, they will oppose it.

Tops of Cabinets - Always check on top of machines and cabinets. A whole bunch of stuff is up there.

University of Calgary creates life cycle assessment chair

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:31:29 -0800

With the construction industry striving to improve sustainability and measure its environmental impact, the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design is taking a major research and leadership role in the emerging field of life cycle assessment (LCA).

The best construction industry marketing blog: Nominations open

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:30:09 -0800

Nevada, Arizona Experience Largest Declines in Construction Jobs, AGC Reports

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:25:40 -0800

Construction workers continued to suffer dramatic job losses as all but one state saw declines in construction employment this October compared to last year, according to an analysis of new state-by-state employment figures released today by the federal government.

EPA Looks to Toughen Sulfur Dioxide Standards

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:24:43 -0800

Sinkhole halts construction on Calgary emergency operations centre

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:23:56 -0800

A sinkhole next to the active construction site of Calgary’s new emergency operations centre has stopped work on the project.

2010 International Roofing Expo Offers World Class Educational Experience

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:30:30 -0800

Roofing professionals looking for customized educational sessions to make their roofing business more competitive, productive and profitable, should plan to attend the 2010 International Roofing Expo, Feb. 22-24, in the D & E Halls at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La.

New Tool for Achieving Carbon Neutrality Released

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:23:56 -0800

Green Footstep shows architects, engineers, and developers how much their building is contributing to global warming, and reveals design targets to achieve carbon neutrality

Tax Credit Extension to Give Housing Recovery a Boost

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:22:39 -0800

New home construction has been holding steady since the spike experienced in June. Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Jim Haughey tells us that a resumed housing recovery is expected around year-end.